


Until Then

by LatteWolf



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Hera can adjust her appearance, Pining, Some good freckle appreciation, Someplace During Season 3, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 11:35:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18690682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LatteWolf/pseuds/LatteWolf
Summary: Hera notices the little things, especially in humans. Humans are predictable, vaguely disgusting, and all look, talk, and act the same. This one, though? This one can't be real.





	Until Then

Hera was the type of ~~machine~~  person that really, really cares about things. People, too. If you were to ask if she was a caring ~~machine~~  person, she would probably give you a “look” or say it was a “complicated question” or simply dismiss you. She wouldn’t be wrong. There are not many things that are on her subconscious list of things she would give her ~~artificial existence~~  life to, but Alana Maxwell might be number one on said list. Hera, of course, would never admit to such a fact, but it is true, Alana Maxwell holds a special reserved seat nestled in the ~~data banks~~  veins of her ~~hard drive~~  heart, and Hera wouldn’t even be able to tell you why.

Maybe it was the freckles. Not the entire reason, but a sort of emotional spark that ignited a much more constant flame. The first time Hera had come into contact with Dr. Alana Maxwell was a First. Hera kept a personal ~~data library~~  mental list of all of the significant first times she’d encountered a sort of behavior, response, or even overall personality. Her list was very short and consisted of only the people aboard the Hephaestus and Urania, Mr. Cutter, ~~The Creator~~  Dr. Miranda Pryce, Rachel Young and various fictional characters from the Star Wars series (as described to her in full detail by one most nerd-hearted Douglas Eiffel).

Alana Maxwell had done something no one had done before.

Not only did she address Hera as ~~anything other than an emotionless block of code~~  a person, but she had also clearly shown she took priority over another doctor, of which had several PhDs and would, at first glance, seem to have been the primary choice for immediate contact instead of Hera. That would have been the assumed, predictable response in that scenario.

Then again, Dr. Maxwell has never been one to be described as “predictable.”

Hera had never understood why anyone could find physical impurities of the complexion attractive in any way, and Hera understood that not everyone can have flawless skin, but Hera had worked tirelessly at making every ounce of her simulated appearance as non-human as she could manage. Every second thinking about open wounds, scratches, scabs, and rashes made her figurative spine crawl up into her slightly figurative brain and hide there for 20 years, so it was a most pleasant and very unexpected surprise that Hera had willingly chosen to appear with freckles.

Alana Maxwell had noticed this, after meeting Hera in her 'pensive' and was able to see her chosen simulated appearance. When asked about it, Hera had said, “It was a design choice. There are several aspects of my simulated appearance I can change without disturbing my primary functions or interfering with valuable resources I can’t afford to waste on how I look, and freckles were something simple I could manage. A little randomized skin pattern implementing of slight pixel decoloration to mimic melanin here, a little repeated graphic of that simulated pattern 3-dimensionally mapped across my 'skin' there. It’s all code Dr.”

All of which was a far more convoluted and complicated charade to distract her from the apparent reason.

Alana Maxwell, upon first coming into her optical surveillance camera, was a sight to behold. Hera had never thought before that imperfection could be so impossibly perfect. Whatever statistical algorithm had been used to configure the placement of each freckle was a mathematical wonder and one that Hera wished she could replicate. Something stood out about the way it complimented her. All of her features, her personality, and even Alana as a whole, it was extraordinary. Maxwell was an imperfect person, slightly disgruntled and always lethargic, yet a perky go-getter who spoke in an obnoxiously high pitched sing-song voice of which Hera never tired of hearing. She had no brain-to-mouth filter in casual conversation and often got too comfortable around most people, especially Warren and Daniel. She, as a person, was messy, and stuck out, but high-functioning and reliable when you needed her. She was beautifully all over the place, and her freckles most definitely suited that aspect of her.

Hera knew she had been too hasty on her initial opinions on skin imperfections. There was something that could only be described in indescribable words about Maxwell, and her freckles, and dimples, and the way her eyes crinkled at the edges when she smiled, and the gap between her teeth, and cheesy humor, and her everything that made her so human. Hera had always looked down upon the idea of being, appearing, and/or acting human, and did everything in her power to distance herself as much as possible from doing such. This, however, was a special instance.

She didn’t think that someone could ever make her change her views, especially on something like humans, and Hera is as stubborn as you can find. But there was something about Alana, that she never had to speak words, or even leave her mouth slightly ajar, to convince Hera of something she didn’t even understand. Maybe, after Maxwell leaving this Earth to rendezvous back with whatever truly magnificent deity had created her and each perfect freckle, Hera could discover what that was she was now so convinced of. Maybe somewhere nestled in the warm sands of a beach, on the sunny west coast like Maxwell would have liked to go with her someday, with a nice bottle of aged wine and a book of St. Augustine’s __Confessions__ they could unravel those mysteries together. Until then, Maxwell would have told her, ignore the seeds of doubt that invade and tell you that you can’t. Until then.

**Author's Note:**

> Short and sweet, Hera being a big ol lesbian. I really enjoy Hera and Alana's dynamic, so probably gonna be more HeraWell in the future. Kthxbye.


End file.
